//------------------------------// // Captured // Story: Of Night and Stone // by Kirb //------------------------------// Of Night and Stone By Kirb Chapter Six Captured “…ugh…” Brooklyn found himself lying face-down on a wooden floor. He had no idea how he got there, or why his head hurt so much. When he opened his eyes, he could see that he was inside what appeared to be a dimly-lit room. He tried to stand up to get a better look around, but found he was very tightly roped down across his back. “Wha-?” It was then that he heard the voices of his kidnappers. “Nothin’ yet?” a young voice with a slight southern accent spoke. “Afraid not,” another voice said. “Though, what would a gargoyle-catching cutie mark look like, anyway?” “Beats me,” the first voice responded. “Still, I hope we didn’t haul this gargoyle all the way here for nothin’!” “Why couldn’t we have just caught him here, instead of having to haul him all the way from the park?” asked a third voice that sounded around the same age but more nasal in tone. “He was really heavy!” “He wouldn’t fly all th’ way over here, would he, Scootaloo?” the first voice spoke again. “Besides,” commented the second voice, “beggars can’t be choosers!” “Beggars?” Scootaloo responded. “We aren’t beggars, we’re gargoyle catchers! Though, hm, begging doesn’t sound like a bad idea for cutie mark crusading, if this doesn’t work.” “Ssh!” the second voice whispered. “I think he’s awake!” The room suddenly went all quiet. Brooklyn heard the clip-clopping of tiny hooves approaching, then saw three sets of hooves appear in front of him. He craned his head to look up and realized that all three of them were young fillies. One of them, a white unicorn with two-toned violet mane and tail, stepped forward. “Um, hello?” Brooklyn blinked a few times. “Hello. Why have you kidnapped me?” The white unicorn gasped, along with an orange pegasus with red-purple mane and tail. “He can talk!” the pegasus said. Brooklyn recognized her voice as that of Scootaloo. “Of course ’e can talk!” said the third filly, a yellow earth pony with red mane and tail, orange eyes, and pinkish red bow. Brooklyn knew this was the voice of the pony with the southern accent. “I told ya they could! Don’t y’all remember?” “Well, excuse me Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo replied, glaring at her friend. “I guess I was too busy making sure this thing doesn’t escape to remember such trivial things as--” “Girls!” the white unicorn interrupted. “Stop arguing! Do you want to get your cutie marks or not?” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo glanced at each other, then looked down sheepishly. “Sorry…” “That’s better,” said the unicorn. “Hey, are you gonna answer my question or not?” Brooklyn asked impatiently. “Why have you kidnapped me?” “Oh! Right.” The unicorn looked back at Brooklyn. “Well, you see, Mr. Gargoyle, we’re trying to get our cutie marks in gargoyle catching.” “My name’s Brooklyn, not ‘Mr. Gargoyle,’” Brooklyn said. “And aren’t cutie marks those marks on your butts that show your special talent?” “That’s right!” Apple Bloom answered with a nod. They turned their bodies so Brooklyn could see that all three of them had blank flanks. “As you can see, th’ three of us don’t have our cutie marks yet, so we’ve been crusadin’ for awhile now t’ get ’em!” “And that’s why our organization is called the Cutie Mark Crusaders! I’m Scootaloo and these are my associates, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.” Brooklyn smiled. Hm, these aren’t anyone to be worried about! They’re just little kids having some fun. Still, it IS getting a little annoying being tied down like this. And I still have to meet up with Maud tonight. “Well, this is very fun and all, but can you let me go?” Apple Bloom shook her head. “Nothin’ doin’, sorry.” “Why not?” Brooklyn asked. “We haven’t got our cutie marks yet!” Scootaloo insisted. “How can we know if our special talent is gargoyle catching if we just let you go? Duh!” “Ugh!” Brooklyn groaned. “Look, I really have to be somewhere right now, so why don’t you just capture a different gargoyle?” “You have to be somewhere?” Sweetie Belle cocked her head to the side. “Where?” “I’m meeting somebody--er, some pony at the park at 10:30,” Brooklyn responded. “Oh.” Sweetie Belle stepped forward. “Well, if you say so…” Brooklyn smiled. He’d finally be able to meet Maud. He was on his way to freedom. Until… “Stop!” Scootaloo commanded. “Don’t let him go! He’s not really meeting somepony! That’s just what he wants you to believe!” “Um, actually I seriously am meeting somepony,” Brooklyn reinforced. “No he’s not!” Scootaloo insisted. “Once we let him go, we’ll never get our cutie marks in gargoyle catching! Meanwhile, he’s just gonna go and, I dunno, terrorize some townsponies or something!” “I have to agree with Scootaloo ’ere,” said Apple Bloom. “Besides, who’d a gargoyle be meetin’ at this time o’ night?” Sweetie Belle thought for a second. “Good point.” She looked at Brooklyn. “Who are you meeting?” “Maud Pie,” Brooklyn responded. “You know her?” Apple Bloom shook her head. “Not personally… ain’t she Pinkie Pie’s sister? I think my sister met her once.” “It doesn’t matter if you know her!” Scootaloo interrupted. “What matters is, why would Maud, or anypony for that matter, be meeting a gargoyle at this hour?” “You’re right,” Apple Bloom admitted. “It does sound suspicious. I’m a might sorry, but we can’t let you leave.” “Ugh!” Brooklyn groaned. He would have facepalmed if he weren’t tied to the clubhouse floor. “Look, why don’t you kids just go to bed and let me go already? Go find your special talent doing something else.” “Like..?” Sweetie Belle asked. “I don’t know, frolicking around or something!” Brooklyn was impatient now. “Whatever ponies do! You aren’t gonna get your cutie marks in gargoyle catching. That’s not your special talent, and it certainly won’t get you employed, unless Xanatos decides to hire you.” “Xanatos?” Apple Bloom asked. “Who’s Xanatos?” Brooklyn sighed. “My clan’s arch-nemesis. Why am I telling you kids this? You three aren’t even old enough to know how babies are made!” There was a long pause, then Scootaloo chimed in. “Wow, that was stupid. I mean, we may be young, but we’re not that young!” “If our parents don’t have th’ talk with us, we find out on the schoolyard,” Apple Bloom stated abruptly. “When a stallion and a mare love each other very much…” “Sex happens,” Sweetie Belle finished. Brooklyn rolled his eyes. “Okay, you’ve argued your way out of this one. You three argue so much, that might as well be your special talent!” Oblivious to Brooklyn’s sarcasm, Sweetie Belle stated, “The two of them already tried that, but I insisted that it wasn’t our special talent. Plus, what would a cutie mark for arguing even look like?” “Fox News?” Brooklyn blurted out. Apple Bloom cocked her head to the side. “Foxes have news stations where ya come from?” “No, I didn’t--” began Brooklyn, only to be cut off by Scootaloo. “Oh! If a fox has a news station, what does the fox say?” Finally, the young gargoyle had enough. “I don’t have time for this!” He growled and his eyes glowed white. The three fillies backed away, with looks of terror on their faces, as he snapped the ropes and stood up to his full height. Brooklyn now had a chance to look around the room. He saw that it was large enough to fit several people, and had a wide open space. There was a staircase in one corner, probably leading to an upper floor of the building. In another corner a podium stood, presumably for giving speeches. A lamp dangled from the ceiling, close enough to Brooklyn that the gargoyle might bang his head on it if he weren’t careful. The wooden walls seemed to be covered with things: a map of Ponyville that looked like a young child had drawn it; little pots with paint brushes and pencils; and a poster of Rainbow Dash. The fillies, or ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’ as they liked to be called, found themselves backed into a corner. Brooklyn pointed at them with one claw, glaring right at them, then shook said finger at them. “Silly ponies. Tricks are for kids.” Wow, I can’t believe I just made a sugary cereal sound badass. The gargoyle began heading to the door. When he looked out, he realized that the fillies’ clubhouse was in a tree, stationed firmly in the upper branches. He stepped onto the deck and started to fly off; however, he was immediately struck by searing pain as an electric zapping noise was heard once again, and a jolt flew through his body. He screamed in agony, loud enough for anypony nearby to hear, as he was once again brought to his knees, and fell back onto the floor. The fillies ran to check on him. “He’s out again,” Sweetie Belle declared. “That was sure a great idea to surround our entire clubhouse with electric fence, Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo complimented. A smirk appeared on Apple Bloom’s face. “Heh, I’m just full o’ good ideas today, aren’t I?” … Lex was on patrol duty that night. He looked over the town as he glided on the wind, arms outstretched to catch as much wind as possible with his wings. The wind happened to blow him all the way towards Sweet Apple Acres. “Huh, this must be the farm where Broadway was caught last night.” About then, Lex heard a scream. An ear-splitting noise that sounded like somebody was in uncontrollable agony, and needed to be rescued. And furthermore, the voice was one he recognized. “Brooklyn?” His face turned to anger. “Don’t worry, I’ll save you!” The small gargoyle flew towards the sound, just barely over the tops of the rows of apple trees. While he headed over there, he tried to remember a line from one of his favorite movies, which he muttered to himself as he glided. “There's a passage I got memorized,” he began, trying to pull off his best Samuel L. Jackson impression. “Ezekiel 25:17. ‘The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men.’” He passed over the barn and farmhouse. His voice grew louder now. “‘Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children.’” Now he started heading towards a secluded private part of Sweet Apple Acres. His voice was now at a yell. “‘And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers!’” A two-story treehouse came into view. Lex could see three silhouettes of fillies emerging from a doorway. He narrowed his sights and zoomed straight towards the treehouse. His voice was now yelling loudly, almost at a roar, and his eyes glowed white. “‘And you will know My name is the Lord, when I lay My vengeance upon thee!’” Lex zoomed straight towards the clubhouse, ready to pounce on Brooklyn’s captors… only to slam straight into the electric fence surrounding the place. The jolt of pain hit him instantly and he yelled out at the top of his lungs until finally passing out and falling many feet down from the treehouse onto the ground below. Sweetie Belle peered down from the treehouse above. “Wow, girls! We caught two in one day! We must be really good at this!” … “Brooklyn…” The gargoyle’s ears twitched. He found himself lying on the wooden floor once more. He didn’t bother to open his eyes, though. “Brooklyn, wake up!” “Eh?” He tried to move his neck, but it, as well as his other joints, were still in extreme pain after being electrocuted twice; however, he didn’t need to see where the voice was coming from to know whose it was. “Ugh.. hi, Lex.” Brooklyn finally managed to open his eyes, and found himself staring face to face with Lex, who was lying next to him, tied down. “They got you too, huh?” Brooklyn asked wearily. “Yeah, they got me alright.” “Electric fence?” asked Brooklyn. “Yep.” “Same for me.” “Dang. I was just out on night patrol and happened to be in the area when I heard your voice.” “Thanks for coming to help, Lex. Sorry this was all so… futile.” “Ah, don’t worry about it. But who are these ponies anyway?” “They’re just little kids, Lex. Call themselves the ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders.’ They’re trying to find their special talents and in turn, their cutie marks. And tonight, it seems they’re looking into gargoyle catching cutie marks.” “That sounds like a pretty useless talent!” Lex smirked. “That’s what I told them! But they didn’t want to listen. It seems they’re pretty good at it anyways, why would they stop?” “True. But here’s a thought. As you said, they’re just little kids.” “Yeah, so?” “So, couldn’t we just break out of these ropes and escape? What would they do to stop us?” “I tried that already, but they have electric fence surrounding the place. You should know that too.” “Oh, right.” “Plus, my joints are in so much pain from that last jolt that I don’t know if I can even fly after this.” “Stop complainin’, you two!” Apple Bloom suddenly interrupted. “Y’all are prisoners, you aren’t allowed to talk!” “Oh?” Lex glared up at Apple Bloom. “And when did that become a rule?” “Haven’t you heard?” Scootaloo interrupted. “That’s, like, on the official gargoyle catching rulebook! Duh!” “There ain’t no gargoyle catching rulebook!” Apple Bloom replied. “You’re just makin’ that up.” “Oh, there totally is!” Scootaloo shot back. “Really, now? Just like how Brooklyn over here was totally goin’ to meet Maud Pie tonight?” Apple Bloom smugly remarked. “Wait, you were going to meet who tonight?” Lex asked, looking at Brooklyn. “Maud, remember?” Brooklyn replied. “The pony I told you who stared at me weirdly and was dead silent? She followed me around pretty much all of last night until I agreed to meet her at the park at 10:30 tonight.” “10:30, eh?” Lex glanced up at a clock on the wall. “You should have said 11. Look.” Brooklyn’s eyes followed where Lex was looking and saw the clock read 10:38. He groaned. “Damn! We’re in a tight spot.” “What is this ‘we’?” Lex raised an eyebrow. “And why did you agree to meet that pony at this time?” “Well, it was less that I agreed and more that she arranged it without my permission before the sun rose.” “And you’re going along with this because…?” “I don’t want to disappoint her, y’know!” A grin grew on Lex’s face. “Uh-oh. I know that look, Brooklyn. You’re in love with her, aren’t you?” “You’re kidding, right? She’s a pony, I’m a gargoyle. How would that even work?” “Relationships would be difficult, but not impossible!” “No! Gah, why am I even talking to you about this? You know, I knew it was gonna go there! Just because she’s female and I don’t want to let her down and, uh, disappoint her, it doesn’t have to mean I’m attracted to her!” “I understand that, but that look on your face, the way you’re talking. I know you, we’ve been raised together, and I know that look! It’s a little suspect.” “You know what? Okay, I don’t want to disappoint someone I’m hanging out with, and she’s the opposite gender, oh no, that must mean I want her! Is that it? Is that how we’re thinking?” “It’s happened before! It could happen again!” “Tell me, Lex, do you even know any interspecies relationships involving a gargoyle?” “Goliath and Elisa?” “I mean apart from that! Do you know any apart from that?” “Well, no. I was just wondering if you, y’know, had a thing for this Maud character. I know you started talking with her sister at once when we met them earlier.” “Oh, no, no, no. I just don’t want to disappoint Maud, alright? I mean, she’s an adorable pony! You wouldn’t want to make an adorable pony sad, right? Like, say, you and that one pony, Twilight?” “Hey, shut up about me and Twilight! You know I don’t swing that way.” “No, I was just using her as an example! I mean, would you want to make her sad? Would you like seeing Twilight cry?” “No, I guess I wouldn’t.” “That’s correct. And you know why you wouldn’t? Because if you made a pony cry, it would be the most heartbreaking thing you ever saw in your life. Here’s this big ball of adorableness, sitting in front of you, and she’s got fountains of tears running down her face, and you’re the cause.” “Yeah, that.. that would kinda suck.” “So it’s like that with me and Maud, y’know? I just don’t want to let her down, because…” “Will you two be quiet?!” Scootaloo shouted. This immediately shut up the two gargoyles. “Now…” “Is everything alright in there?” a voice called out from outside. The fillies’ eyes widened as they recognized the voice as Applejack’s. “Uh, yeah Applejack! Everything is a-okay!” Scootaloo called out the window. “Right, girls?” “Uh, right!” Apple Bloom answered. “Ya sure?” Applejack called back. “I thought I heard some other voices in there…” “You did!” Lex called out. “What was that?” A hint of suspicion was in Applejack’s voice. “Uh, nothin’, big sister!” Apple Bloom called out nervously. “Jus’ Sweetie Belle doin’ her voice impressions! Right, Sweetie Belle?” “Yeah, totally!” Sweetie responded. “Have you heard my Christopher Wagon one? It’s really good! ‘I gotta fever, and the only prescription is more--’” Unfortunately, Sweetie Belle couldn’t finish her impression, as Applejack interrupted her. “I dunno, y’all! I’m comin’ up t’ see what’s really goin’ on!” The sound of hoofsteps heading up the stairs on the outside of the treehouse became audible. The three fillies ran to the door. “No wait!” Apple Bloom yelled. “Stop!” The noise of electrocution was heard, and flashing lights were seen through the window. Sweetie Belle ran inside to an outlet and unplugged a cord from it. The electric fence turned off at that moment. “What in all tarnation was that about!?” Applejack yelled. “I’m glad I at least know where my electric fencing went, but what the hay did y’all need it for?” She trotted inside, her mane and coat singed, to see Brooklyn and Lex tied down to the floor and gasped. “An’ now I know where my rope went, too! Why did you girls do this?” “But sis…” began Apple Bloom. “No ‘buts,’” Applejack interrupted sternly. “When I let y’all have a sleepover, I hoped you’d be sleepin’! Not catchin’ innocent gargoyles and holdin’ ’em hostage! Now I want y’all t’ say you’re sorry!” Apple Bloom sighed, then the other two fillies walked in front of Lex and Brooklyn. “We’re sorry,” the trio simultaneously said, looking down with expressions of guilt. “Hey, no problem,” Brooklyn replied, standing up and snapping out of his rope bindings. “Now if it had lasted any longer, that would’ve been a problem.” Lex grumbled as he stood up and freed himself. “Well, maybe it’s not a problem for you, but I think getting electrocuted was really painful!” “Thanks!” Apple Bloom said proudly while grinning. “It was my idea.” Lex continued to grumble as he headed out the door, with Brooklyn following him. Applejack glared at the fillies. “I’ll deal with you later.” Brooklyn and Lex outstretched their wings, and stood on top of the once-electric fence. Applejack stepped out after them. “Hey, you two, I’m mighty sorry I let them do that.” “It’s alright,” Brooklyn replied. “They’re just little kids doing what little kids do.” “Is kidnapping and electrocuting gargoyles usually what little kids do?” Lex snapped. Applejack chuckled. “Well, I hope y’all have a good night. This won’t happen again.” Brooklyn waved as he and Lex left. Lex looked back at the treehouse, then at Brooklyn, and smiled. “I’m gonna go back on patrol. You have fun with your girlfriend.” “Oh, screw you,” Brooklyn shot back as he and Lex flew on their separate ways.